Social Welfare History
P. Nelson Reid
Social welfare is an encompassing and imprecise term, but most often it is defined in terms of “organized activities,” “interventions,” or some other element that suggests policy and programs to respond to recognized social problems or to improve the well-being of those at risk. To define social welfare in terms of programs or problems alone, however, is to miss a larger and more enduring element. Titmuss (1958) observed that social welfare is concerned with the “right order” of relationships in society; that is, it is some ideal of the way in which a society works and fits together to form a suitable place for human habitation and development. From a different perspective, Murray (1984) referred to social welfare as establishing the “rules of the game,” with the “game” being the system of distributing valued resources, such as money; jobs; housing; and educational, health, and social services. Both Murray and Titmuss—and, therefore, both what is called the “Right” and the “Left”—have some vision of the good society. Social welfare, then, is perhaps best understood as an idea, that idea being one of a decent society that provides opportunities for work and human meaning, provides reasonable security from want and assault, promotes fairness and evaluation based on individual merit, and is economically productive and stable. This idea of social welfare is based on the assumption that human society can be organized and governed to produce and provide these things, and because it is feasible to do so, the society has a moral obligation to bring it to fruition.
This entry describes the history and development of social welfare in the United States with a focus on understanding the character and sources of the current idea of social welfare. It was written in the context of the 1990s, however, a time when much of what is commonly thought of as making up the sound welfare state is under an apparent cloud of doubt.
The beginning of the 20th century was fertile ground for the development and expansion of broad governmental responsibility for social problems in the United States. Industrialization, immigration, the growth of cities, the rapid increase in capital and wealth, and labor unrest all contributed to a dramatic change in the role of government. There was a prevailing sense that through political will, effective professional service, and adequate supports a myriad of social difficulties could be solved. Social work, born of “scientific charity” and christened in American Progressivism, reflected this nearly boundless hope and the easy acceptance of state responsibility for society and its people.
However, in the 1990s, things do not seem so clear. The century has not been altogether kind to the welfare state, and there is talk of a new paradigm. The post–World War II economic boom is long past, and postindustrial restructuring has left the welfare state vulnerable to a new conservatism that has eroded some of the programs and much of the ideology of welfare. Liberal optimism is not in vogue and seems to have given way to a less generous appraisal of human potential. What for most of this century seemed so hopeful and just two decades ago seemed inevitable currently seems to be teetering on some historical edge.
DEVELOPMENT OF STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SOCIAL WELFARE
The development of social welfare in the modern sense of the term depended on the assumption of state responsibility for the provision of social assistance. This assumption established a context in which policy and programs could develop in a uniform and visible fashion and in response to social and economic circumstances reflected in political pressures and processes. From the U.S. perspective, the emergence of a central role for the state in social provision had occurred before American colonization, and so the story of the transition from “private,” sacred, charitable aid to “public,” secular, citizenship-based aid begins in England.
Elizabethan Poor Laws
The development of a clearly defined governmental role for the provision of aid to those in need is typically associated with the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601. As de Schweinitz (1943) observed, the statute of Elizabeth 43 represents the culmination of a two-century process of the state's progressive attempts to control aid to poor people, first through “repressive” measures and later through the establishment of a “positive obligation.” This positive approach involved a system in which local parishes publicly administered locally derived tax funds that were used to provide direct grants to unemployable people, work for able-bodied individuals, and apprenticeship or some form of foster care for neglected children. The elements of the Elizabethan Poor Laws remained the basis for English and American provision to the poor for 300 years and continue to have a great influence.
Feudal system.
Feudal system. The Poor Law statutes, beginning in 1349 with the Statutes of Laborers and culminating in Elizabeth 43, represent an effort by the state to deal with the decline and fall of the feudal system and the transition to a modern, wage-based economic and social order. The feudal system was land based, with a hereditary hierarchy controlling all property. The vast majority of people were landless serfs, who were tied to property and were required to labor for the lords in their fields or in small-scale manufacture. The serfs paid rents and taxes and were obligated to the land-controlling lords for life. In return, they were provided protection and some small measure of security. This agrarian system produced little surplus, much of which went to support the well born. Every household gave to the church (which also had a hierarchy to support), and some of the surplus was provided in the form of charitable aid. The feudal system was one of fixed social classes and minimal geographic or social mobility of individuals.